This invention relates in general to arrangements for parking or storing automobiles and, more specifically, to a system which parks automobiles in stacked spaces, utilizing an elevator means and a novel turntable arrangement for receiving, parking and returning automobiles by remote control.
Parking of automobiles for variable time periods in shopping, apartment and business areas is becoming an increasing problem. Surface level parking is increasingly costly, due to the large areas of ever more expensive land tied up in parking lots, plus the high labor cost of attended lots. Self-service lots have several problems, including collision damage to automobiles and theft from the easily accessible unattended automobiles.
Attempts have been made to design "high-rise" parking lots in which automobiles are either driven up a ramp or raised by elevators. Ramp-type lots have the same collision damage and theft problems as surface lots, plus the wasted space occupied by the ramp. Lots using elevators to lift automobiles to elevated parking spaces tend to be complex and to require attendants to move automobiles between entry locations, the elevators, and the parking spaces, resulting in high labor costs.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,467, I describe a high-rise parking system overcoming many of these problems. In my system, automobiles are driven onto movable pallets which are moved by remote or automatic control onto elevators. The elevators move to positions adjacent to elevated parking spaces, then transfer means exchanges the loaded pallet for an empty pallet in the space. These operations are reversed to retrieve the automobile. While this system is highly effective, I have found that certain problems remain in receiving the automobile from the driver and moving it to the elevator and later in returning the automobile to the driver from the elevator. As disclosed in my prior patent, the automobile is driven onto a pallet near and parallel to the elevator. Little room is provided for the driver in getting out of his automobile and walking out of the parking building. Also, the automobile is returned to the driver in the same orientation on the pallet, so that the driver must back off of the pallet, resulting in some danger and inconvenience. Fee parking lots must be as safe and convenient as possible if maximum utilization is to be achieved.
It is, therefore, an object of my present invention to provide a parking system overcoming the above-mentioned problems.
Another object of this invention is to provide a parking system which is an improvement on that described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,467.
A further object of this invention is to provide a parking system which permits the driver to easily and safely leave or enter his automobile at the entrance location of the parking system.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a parking system in which the driver may drive in a forward direction both when entering and when leaving the entrance of the parking system.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a parking system in which one entrance location can supply automobiles to more than one elevator.